DeKALB | For an entire half, a competitive basketball game took place Saturday at the Convocation Center.

Too bad for the reeling Huskies it was the first half.

Kent State rolled to a 68-49 win Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center, compliments of a suffocating half-court trap that forced NIU into 23 turnovers. The Huskies have now lost six in a row and 15 of their last 16 games.

“Any turnover is frustrating,” NIU coach Rob Judson said. “This year, our number of turnovers jumps out at you like a blinking neon sign.”

The NIU offense was derailed at the start of the second half as KSU translated five turnovers into a 7-0 run.

Senior center James Hughes hit a lay -up and junior forward Zach Pancratz hit a pair of free throws to momentarily stem the tide, but four more NIU turnovers led to a game changing 12-0 KSU run.

“A team traps you to take you out of what you want to do offensively,” Judson said.

Unable to efficiently establish their half-court offense, NIU shot 34 percent from the field and 13 percent from three-point range.

In the first half, NIU proved that not even Kent State – tied for the second in the rugged MAC East – was impervious to tough physical defense.

NIU’s defense kept it in the game early and actually gave the team the lead. A Shaun Logan steal and outlet pass to senior guard Mike McKinney resulted in a two-handed breakaway slam and a 26-24 Huskie lead with 2:29 left in the first half.

But after that, it was KSU that gave the fans their money’s worth with several slams throughout the game. The most authoritative of those dunks was a thunderous tomahawk jam by freshman guard Chris Singletary on a baseline feed that started a 4-0 rally at the end of the first half to give KSU a two-point edge.

McKinney had a game-high 19 points and a team-high seven rebounds, but was held to two points after the half.